Three Democratic members of Colorado’s congressional delegation have once again introduced a bill to establish three new judgeships on the state’s federal trial court, which would expand the size of the bench for the first time in four decades.

U.S. Sens. Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper and U.S. Rep. Joe Neguse have re-filed the Colorado Judgeship Act, after a previous version of the bill failed to advance in the last Congress. The number of active judges authorized on the U.S. District Court for Colorado has held steady at seven since 1984, even though the state’s population has nearly doubled in the last 39 years.

“Caseload backlogs shouldn’t stand in the way of justice. We need to expand the number of judges on Colorado’s district court so the bench is sufficient for our growing state,” said Hickenlooper in a statement.

The Judicial Conference of the United States, which is the governing body for the federal courts, has repeatedly recommended Congress give two additional judgeships to Colorado based on caseloads. Data from 2022 showed 558 cases filed per judge on Colorado’s federal trial court, a higher number than neighboring states‘ courts.

Neguse has also put forward a second bill that would allow the federal court to hold proceedings in Fort Collins, and would alternatively add just one judge position.

While expressing their support for additional judges in Colorado, two of the sponsors indicated they do not back a renewed effort to expand the U.S. Supreme Court. Last week, Democratic members of Congress announced they would reintroduce the Judiciary Act, which would add four seats to the current nine-member court. Some progressives have endorsed expansion of the Supreme Court as a method of diluting the power of the six-member conservative majority.

Spokespersons for Bennet and Neguse said the men do not support the bill. Hickenlooper’s office did not respond to an inquiry. As a candidate in 2020, he declined to offer a definitive answer on the subject.